


La vie en rose

by culfire



Series: Little Bag End [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 11:42:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6609415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/culfire/pseuds/culfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And so it went on and on for a long time, till the day no voice was heard on the garden of Little Bag End, as Bella used to call her flat. The first few weeks were hard to Thorin, he missed Bella, she was so easy to talk to. He went back to his flat, to the silence on the garden next to his, plants growing wild with no one to take care of them, and when he had just gotten used to it, a voice sang again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	La vie en rose

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! Well, this is my first fic here so please don't be too mean. I've been wanting to write something like this for a long time and well this is it. I'm really sorry for my english, it's not my mother language but my beta and me had been working hard to try and fix everything as best as we can. I based these works on the songs I love and that inspired me to write the scenes, I hope you like it.

Thorin left his shopping on the kitchen table and smiled. His neighbour, sweet Belladonna, was singing again in her improvised garden. She had a lovely voice, and nearly every night she sat on her little garden turned terrace and sang whatever she was feeling to. That night the delicate notes of a spanish guitar flowed playing “La vie en rose”, Thorin took his vietnamese rolls and went out to his own terrace to say hello.

“Hi there, handsome.”

“Goodnight Bella, Bilbo has been around?”

“Looking for an adventure with my son, are you Thorin?” the young choked on his food, his face turning bright red.

“Absolutely not!”

“What a shame, you would be good for him, he needs someone who cares for him as much as he cares for everyone else.”

“You care for him.”

“I won’t be here forever, Thorin” a shadow crossed her face, then it disappeared with no trace behind her smile. “You two will know each other someday, you would get along pretty well. It’s late, goodnight Thorin.”

“I would like that very much, goodnight Bella.”

 

“I’ve never seen you treat a plant so badly, what happened?” Bella jumped in a fright when she heard his voice, then smiled to Thorin.

“Nothing, handsome, it’s not important.”

“It doesn’t look like it. Don’t lie to me, I’m a lawyer, I know when people lie to me, Bella.”

“Would you like some tea?” She opened her door and offered to Thorin his favourite tea cup, they took seat on the garden. “It’s Bilbo and this boyfriend of his, Azog, he is so harsh with my little boy, I’m afraid he will someday beat Bilbo.”

“I know that man, Bella, you know it.”

“Aye, and I know that he’s not a good man, but Bilbo is so sure he can be better, Bilbo always thinks people can be better.”

“Is there something I can do?”

“Oh sweetheart! No, there’s nothing you can do, listening to me is enough.”

 

Thorin knew when Bilbo and Azog’s relationship ended, he saw it in her eyes, Bella was proud of her son. Many months later Azog was found dead from overdose.

“He’s been acting strange, I think he was afraid all this time that he would come for him, and now that all is finished he doesn’t know what to feel.”

“Bilbo is strong, Bella, he will be fine, just leave him some space.”

“He was like that when my Bungo died, you know? He locked himself up in his room and stopped talking for a week.”

“I don’t think this will be the same way, don’t worry.”

“A mother’s job is to worry Thorin, and talking about that, have you been eating well, young man? I’m not sure so much takeaway food is good for your health.”

 

And so it went on and on for a long time, till the day no voice was heard on the garden of Little Bag End, as Bella used to call her flat. The first few weeks were hard to Thorin, he missed Bella, she was so easy to talk to. He went to the funeral and met Bilbo for the first time in real. There was no way he could not fall in love with him. He tried to chat with him for a while, to make sure that he would be alright, but there was too much people and, after a nasty woman pulled him away from Bella’s son, Thorin finally gave up. He went back to his flat, to the silence on the garden next to his, plants growing wild with no one to take care of them, and when he had just gotten used to it, a voice sang again.

 

It was that same guitar, playing smoothly “La vie en rose”. Bilbo’s mother loved that song, she used to sing it on her best and worst days, “it helps me feel less sad, darling” she used to say. She was right, she always was. Bilbo had run away from his ex Thranduil, last two months being a nightmare with his boyfriend controlling every move he made. It had not been his most brilliant moment, but it felt so good to break the expensive mobile phone Thranduil had gifted him and then throw it on a water-full bucket just to hear him scream like a pig. Belladonna would be proud. Not Bungo, he was too proper for that,  _ but mum would buy me ice cream to celebrate it, because I’d been strong enough to leave _ .

Bilbo heard something, there was someone on the other terrace, and he realised that it was too late at night to be singing anything. He stopped and stood up to try and look at the man on the other side, but the plants were too high.

“Excuse me? Sir? Damn, I can’t see a thing.”

“Hello, is that you, Bilbo?”

“Ehm, yes? Who am I talking to? Do we know each other?” then he saw the chairs of the garden tea table and had an idea. “Hold a sec, please. There, that’s better, I can look you on the face now” he said when he stood up on the chair. “So, who are you now, handsome?”

“You’re just like Bella” Thorin said laughing, then offered his hand to his new neighbour. “Thorin Oakenshield, but your mum used to call me handsome, nice to meet you, at last.”

“Oh gosh! So you are that Thorin! You were at her funeral, weren’t you?”

“Yes, I was, I tried to introduce myself properly but there was too much people and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“If you would had kidnapped me from that place I would had been quite happy, actually, my family can be quite overwhelming.”

“So, what brings you back to Little Bag End and, please explain to me, why the hell did your mother call your flat Little Bag End?” that earned a laugh from Bilbo.

“Long story short, I’ve just broken up with my boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, and had no place to go and about the name, we have a house on the countryside called Bag End, but it’s too big for one or two people to live there, so it’s there for holidays, and meanwhile we have the replacement in this flat. Well... we had, now it’s only me and myself, since two years ago.”

“Have you had some dinner?”

“Would you start mothering me?”

“I’m usually on the receiving side, but Bella would have had my head if I didn’t at least offer you part of my unhealthy takeaway food.”

“Aye, that sounds like mum.” And the smile reminded Thorin why he fell in love with him. “I already took my share of takeaway, but if you’re amenable there is something else I need.”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Would you have some spare sheets? I’m afraid mums are full of dust and I don’t have more.”

“I will take a look, there should be the ones I use for when Fili and Kili come to visit.”

“I remember mum talking about them, they are your nephews?”

“Yes, they are. Hold on a sec, I’ll be right back.” When Thorin disappeared inside the house Bilbo took time to breath, he was hotter that he remembered from the funeral, and that ponytail was so ridiculously sexy! His neighbour snapped him back to reality. “Here, I hope they suit your bed, they’re for a double bed, Fili and Kili don’t like to sleep apart.”

“How sweet. Thank you very much, and I’m really sorry for being singing this late, I hope I have not disturbed you.”

“You have not, I was used to Bella singing all the time, it would be nice to go back to that routine. If you decide to stay, of course.”

“Believe me, not even all the gold in the world can convince me to go back with that jerk. I’m just sorry for his kid, he was a lovely boy and I liked him very much.”

“You were close to the kid?”

“Not really, but it has to be disturbing to meet a different boyfriend each time you come back from the school to pay a visit.” Bilbo looked at his watch and got surprised. “It’s so late! I’m sorry for keeping you awake, goodnight Thorin, thank you very much.”

“Goodnight Bilbo.”

 

The next morning Bilbo felt lighter than he had in a long while, he got up with the idea of cooking some pancakes for him and his sexy neighbour, shame he was out of any food at home. He looked around, the flat was as his mother had left it before dying, dust layers covering everything, he should use the day for cleaning up and shopping. He could fix part of the garden too, it was not as if he had anything else to do, thanks to Thranduil, part of why they started arguing. Thank god he had brought all his things when he run out, it wouldn’t do to go back there anytime soon.

 

Thorin came back soon from work that afternoon. Not that he wanted, it was more the chance to not keep hearing Balin how he should get a social life. He found out that Little Bag End’s garden was better than this morning, when he left to work, and that he could see Bilbo tending to the roses. He was going to say “hello” when someone appeared from inside Bilbo’s flat with a tea trail.

“Frerin?!”

“Brother! I was waiting for you, you had not told us about you lovely neighbour.”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Can’t I come to see my big brother? Believe me, Bill, he really does love his family, even if he puts that face of sucking lemons each time he sees us.”

“I can understand him, it seems my family is quite the same as you, Frer” Thorin felt parted between Bilbo’s statement and the use of the nickname so freely given. “He is still quite handsome with that face.”

“I think you have broken him, he’s turning bright red.”

“Fuck off, Frerin” and with that Thorin went back to his flat sulking about his brother and Bilbo being too friendly.

“Don’t worry Bilbo, he’s not angry with you, it’s just that he’s become a grumpy bunch since dad’s passing. They were close.”

“I think he is a great guy, mum used to tell me about him a lot. I’m sorry, Frerin, but he’s the sexyest out of you two” Bilbo laughed at the other’s gesture of offense.

He decided to leave Thorin some space to stop sulking. Bilbo knew what it was like not being the feistier one on the family and having people joking about it around you. It was three days later that he got to see his neighbour again. It was a lovely sunday morning and Bilbo had just made some pancakes when Thorin emerged to his terrace.

“Good morning, handsome, fancy some pancakes?”

“Uhm… I’m not a pancake person.”

“That’s because you have not tasted mine, best pancakes this side of London. Mum used to say they’re the best pancakes she ever had.”

“Well, if you sell them like that I’ll give them a go.”

 

Casualty or not, Bilbo had given Thorin the same mug Bella used to reserve for him. He suspected that there was a note somewhere with his name written on it so no one else could use it, that was very much like Bella. They were, in fact, the best pancakes Thorin had ever had and he dreamed with the chance to spend every sunday morning having Bilbo’s pancakes for breakfast. Bilbo was very much like his mother, talkative and cheerful, his smile as bright as the sunlight.

“I’m sorry about the other day” he heard Bilbo say. “I didn’t know it would upset you to let your brother into my flat, he was just so bored out there, I thought it would be nice.”

“It’s not your fault at all, it’s just that my family is quite overwhelming too, and that day I already had my share of insistent caretakers.”

“I can understand that, Frerin told me you became less cheerful when your dad died. The same happened to me.”

“You seem perfectly cheerful to me, not like myself. Grumpy old man, I’m sure they call me.”

“Oh, they do, Frerin at least, but mum used to tell me that you have a gorgeous smile, and I agree with her, only if you could show it more. I know it’s hard!” Bilbo added hastily. “I know it’s not easy, it wasn’t for me, but I met someone and she taught me that grumpy is not unhappy. You just need someone that keeps trying to make you smile and after some time you will do it without noticing.”

 

There was something behind that statement, something big, and Thorin knew when not to push someone. Bilbo watched him as if he was looking to discover something just by the way he moved. Thorin felt nervous but couldn’t put his finger on the cause. He felt like he needed to break the silence.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Just one?”

“For now.”

“Ok, go on.”

“Was there a label with my name on it attached to this mug?” he asked lifting the very same mug. Bilbo laughed.

“Yes, indeed there was.”

“I knew it!” Thorin exclaimed proud of himself. The silence after that felt more comfortable than before. “I would like that very much.”

“Like what, exactly?”

“Find that person who keeps trying to make you smile.”

“You will, sooner or later. Meanwhile you have me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I'll publish next chapter next week and I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I did writting it. See you soon!


End file.
